Alan MacLeod

Alan MacLeod

Alan MacLeod is a member of the Glasgow University Media Group. His latest book is, "Bad News From Venezuela: 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting." Follow him on Twitter: @AlanRMacLeod

Articles by this author

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Sunday, July 21, 2019
Media Just Can’t Stop Presenting Horrifying Stories as ‘Uplifting’ Perseverance Porn
“THIS IS AWESOME!” That’s how Fox 5 DC described its story ( 5/28/19 ) about Logan Moore of Cedartown, GA, a disabled two-year-old whose parents were unable to afford to buy him a walker, so employees at Home Depot fashioned one together themselves for him. The story closely resembles another...
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Democratic presidential candidate former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the AARP and The Des Moines Register Iowa Presidential Candidate Forum at Drake University on July 15, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. Twenty Democratic presidential candidates are participating in the forums that will feature four candidate per forum, to be held in cities across Iowa over five days. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Views
Thursday, July 18, 2019
To Corporate Media, No Democrat Can Possibly Be Right-Wing
The 2020 presidential candidacy race is in full (absurdly early) swing, and there is a clear and obvious internal battle currently raging for the soul of the Democratic Party. One faction is attempting to pull the party in a more populist, social-democratic direction, while another favors...
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Former president Barack Obama, whose moderate vice president Joe Biden is now in the race, recently decried the alleged “purity tests” he saw on the left. (Photo: Shutterstock) Views
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
For Democrats, So-Called ‘Purity Tests’ Can Be a Good Thing
The Democratic primaries are heating up. One notable feature of the race is the strong presence of progressive candidates — which has many in the establishment wing of the party worried. Former president Barack Obama, whose moderate vice president Joe Biden is now in the race, recently decried the...
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AP photograph of a coup supporter in front of a burning bus. (Photo: Fernando Llano) Views
Thursday, May 02, 2019
Venezuela: It’s Only a Coup if the US Government Says So
It’s Groundhog Day again in Venezuela, as the local conservative opposition has launched another attempt to oust President Nicolás Maduro from power. Surrounded by a few hardcore supporters, Washington-backed self-appointed president Juan Guaidó on April 30 called on the military to rise up and...
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Detail from a recent cartoon attached to a Wall Street Journal column warning against Medicare for All. Views
Monday, April 29, 2019
Corporate Media Are Here to Warn You: Medicare for All Is a Very Bad Idea
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is heating up, and healthcare is a key issue up for debate. A number of high-profile candidates, including Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard and Elizabeth Warren, have endorsed a Medicare for All solution to America’s healthcare problem. However, the...
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It is often made explicit that “purity test” is merely code for the Democratic base wanting more leftist policies, and being disgruntled with politicians who block them. (Photo: Screenshot) Views
Thursday, April 18, 2019
‘Purity Tests’: How Corporate Media Describe Progressives Standing Up for Principles
The Democratic primaries are heating up, and dozens of candidates representing all manner of political positions have entered the ring hoping to be the party’s 2020 presidential nominee. One notable feature of the race is the strong presence of progressive candidates, a sign of the rising influence...
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The homeless 8-year-old chess champion is a prime example of a fast-growing sub-genre of unintentionally horrifying stories that are meant to uplift the reader, but instead highlight the hellish nightmare much of the country lives in. (Photo: Screenshot) Views
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
The Homeless 8-Year-Old Chess Champion and Other Horrific ‘Uplifting’ Stories
There’s a certain genre of light-hearted human-interest stories that are common across most news platforms. Soft news, such as an autistic Arkansas teen winning a basketball scholarship ( NBC , 11/29/18 ), a Tampa Bay area photographer helping animals get adopted ( ABC Action News , 3/20/19 ) or an...
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Saturday, March 23, 2019
Everyone Washington Supports, by Definition, Is a Moderate Centrist
he Trump administration seems to have found their man in National Assembly leader and self-appointed president of Venezuela Juan Guaidó. Guaidó has been extremely attentive to US interests, promising to allow US oil companies to increase their activity in Venezuela. He has also pledged mass...
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The political right is uniting with establishment Democrats in denouncing presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders for his supposedly pro-dictatorship stance on Venezuela. And the media are piling on.(Photo: ABC/Screengrab) Views
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Venezuela-Baiting: How Media Keep Anti-Imperialist Dissent in Check
Corporate media have always attacked leftists for their positions on Venezuela, a country consistently demonized and misrepresented in the US press ( FAIR.org , 6/1/02 , 11/1/05 , 4/1/13 , 2/22/19 ). But with President Donald Trump’s latest tightening of sanctions, and signs of a build-up to a long...
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A recent local poll shows that 86 percent of Venezuelans oppose military intervention, while 81 percent already disagree with the current US sanctions. (Photo: Screenshot) Views
Friday, February 01, 2019
The ‘Venezuelan People’ Are Whoever Agrees With Donald Trump
The latest bizarre episode in the Trump presidency is currently playing out in Venezuela. Just weeks after President Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration, Trump officially recognized Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old head of the National Assembly—a man who has never even run for president—as the rightful head...
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